Two killed in U.S. 30 crash

They were passengers in car struck by semi-truck.

They were passengers in car struck by semi-truck.

March 12, 2006|ADAM JACKSON Tribune Staff Writer

Two Plymouth residents were killed early Saturday when the car they were riding in was struck by a semi-truck along U.S. 30. While few details on the crash had been released by Saturday evening, a report from the Marshall County Sheriff's Department indicated that Miguel Perez, 50, and Elvia Mendoza, age unknown, were both pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which occurred at 2:45 a.m. at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Pine Road. According to the report, the victims were passengers in a small four-door sedan driven by 30-year-old Carlos Hernandez of Plymouth, which was headed north on Pine Road. Police said Hernandez failed to stop at the stop sign where Pine intersects with U.S. 30, and drove into the path of a semi-truck driven by Thomas Cowper of Madison, Ohio, which was headed west on U.S. 30. The ensuing collision caused Mendoza, a rear-seat passenger in the car, to be ejected onto the roadway. Perez, the front-seat passenger, was belted in and remained inside the car. Both were pronounced dead at the scene of multiple blunt-force trauma. The report indicated that two other passengers in the car, Reyna Lopez and Laura Silinas, were taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend. There conditions were not available Saturday. Both Hernandez and Cowper were treated for minor injuries and released. The accident remains under investigation.